Cycle 9, Trailer
THE FOLLOWING PREVIEW HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR ALL AUDIENCES
BY THE BROADCAST ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, INC.
THE PROGRAM ADVERTISED HAS BEEN RATED M FOR MATURE.
STRONG LANGUAGE; GRAPHIC AND PERVASIVE VIOLENCE; BLOOD AND GORE; ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND DRUG USE; NUDITY; SEXUAL CONTENT; RAPE; PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, VERBAL, AND SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN; SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR; THEMATIC ELEMENTS OF RACISM, SEXISM, HETEROSEXISM, ABLEISM, CLASSISM, AND BIGOTRY; AND OCCASIONAL BREAKS FROM REALITY
TITLE: 'The Proper Way to Fight a Battle Royale' by the Education Reform Act Committee
(The title fades to darkness, dissolving into the jet black night sky over a city skyline. Aside from isolated buildings that are lit up with minuscule lights, the landscape is completely stationary. There are no signs of vehicles or pedestrians.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): Hello, everyone in the graduating class of Haven's Mill High School! You are the lucky class chosen for this year's Battle Royale! Congratulations!
(A quick flash of a dozen terrified faces, each one flashing by before the mind can fully register the last face. Each person is dressed to appear as the stereotype of the clique they belong to. The montage includes a jock, a skater, a cheerleader, a nerd, a thug, a prep girl, an actress, a party girl, a disabled teen, a hipster, and a hoodlum girl.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): Want to know how to take part in a Battle Royale? Listen up to fight right with gusto!
(Two boys grapple each other on rust and broken stones, as the camera pans up to reveal a stack of flattened automobiles in a junkyard. One of the boys appears to have a crooked arm. The other boy keeps him pinned down with his knees, throwing punches at the downed boy's face. A gout of blood jets out of his nose as he howls in pain.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): The objective of the game is to eliminate all your competitors before they eliminate you! Only one of you can survive the game! This is an opportunity for you to prove your worth and your devotion to this nation!
(Two teenagers dodge as a sizzling flare explodes between them, forcing one of them to run off the screen as they beat down the flames on their shirt. Blinded, the other boy in the building staggers with both hands outstretched.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): You are in an urban arena that looks like this! It is shaped like a square and about six miles in length and width. The city has been abandoned by its previous inhabitants, so there should be plenty of room for you to fight!
(Footage of an expanse of city blocks shot from an overhead helicopter flying over the landscape. The camera moves over a well-maintained middle class neighborhood, across a silvery band of water that bisects the arena into two sides, hovers over a run-down shanty town that has gone derelict from disuse, finally passing over a section of the ghetto that has been ravaged by fire.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): The arena has been divided into many zones. Every hour, we will announce updates of which of your competitors have been eliminated, as well as a list of danger zones! Each danger zone will remain forbidden for six hours, so make sure you pay attention to each announcement!
(A mousy girl runs wildly down the street and looks in all directions in fear. As she overtakes a corner and barrels out onto the road, a hand snatches her by her shirt and throws her to the ground. Terrified, the girl shrieks as she crawls back.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): If you are in these zones… you better be running! Because the collars you are wearing are a hundred percent waterproof, shock-proof, and tamper-proof! They monitor your pulse and let us know where you are and if you are still alive.
(A battered and beaten boy is sprawled on the floor, limbs contorted at unnatural angles. Blood seeps from various cuts and scrapes, staining the tattered clothes that he is wearing. Although his chest is still and he appears to be lifeless, the red light blinking in time with his heartbeat indicates that he is still alive.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): If you stay for too long in a danger zone or break the rules, we can identify you and transmit a radio wave that detonates your collar! If you try to remove your collar, it will also explode!
(Close up of a blinking red light. The camera draws away to reveal that it is clipped on a bloodied teenager's neck. As the flashes increases in frequency, its wearer tugs the metal collar with all their might. After a beat, the collar explodes in a blast of blood, fire, and detached fingers.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): The announcements will also let you know which of your classmates have been awarded the Most Valuable Player award! They will be given a chance to acquire some weaponry or equipment in the game, so make sure you fight hard for the award!
(A camera pans in a circular trajectory, a three-sixty shot that reveals eight students standing at various places in a gas station. Each wields a weapon of some sort, ranging from guns to a baseball bat. While the faces of some are tentative, the majority look simply keen. A moment passes. Suddenly, bullets fly, weapons swing, and bodies fall.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): You will leave one by one in numerical order after acquiring your pack. Inside, you will find food and water, a flashlight, a mobile phone, a digital watch, some things to help you stay dry in the rain, and an electronic PDA with information on your classmates and the battlefield!
(A well-dressed girl holds a handgun in a manicured hand as she creeps down the street. The camera pans to the front, revealing an unarmed boy strolling along, unaware that he has a stalker.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): Each of you will also receive a different designated weapon, and it's not just guns and knives! The distribution is randomized, so it negates any genetic advantages! Hope you find one that's super lucky!
(A montage of teenagers opening their packs and pulling out their designated weapons, including a handgun, a sickle, a bulletproof vest, a stockwhip, a crossbow, a fire ax, a shotgun, a trench shovel, a kukri, and a ceramic elephant.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): Remember, kids, only one person can win the game! Will you kill your best friend?
(A girl runs down the streets as shots rain down from above. She trips on her heels, regains her footing, then whips out a gun and fires back at her attacker. Her shots bounce off an aluminum window frame with loud clangs, forcing the boy inside to duck.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): Or will your best friend kill you?
(An emotional boy holds a gun in one hand and smears the tears around his eyes with his other hand. The weapon is trained at the torso of his athletic friend, who pleads desperately with him. The pair stand in silence for a moment, and a loud noise rings out as one of the boys collapse.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): Make your choice...
(A living body plummets from the edge of a tall building, writhing with bright flames even as it falls.)
(A girl tucks her pistol underneath her chin with tears running down her face. The camera focuses on her finger as she tugs the trigger, a bullet ripping her head apart in a massive spray of blood.)
(A handsome boy tosses a Bible aside as he flips a butterfly knife open in a practiced maneuver.)
(Two people face each other in front of a church lectern, decked out in wedding attire. They hold each other's hands and lean in for a kiss. Before their lips touch, gunfire rings out as bullets land around them. The lovers quickly dive behind the wooden pews.)
(Two motorcycles zip past each other as they speed down a high bridge above the river.)
(A hand meticulously loads a single bullet into a six-shot revolver, snaps the chamber shut, and spins it with a series of loud clicks.)
ANNOUNCER (VO): Battle Royale and all associated programs are brought to you by the Education Reform Act Committee of the United States of America.
(Specks of red dust appear, slowly at first, then flicker to become the official Education Reform Act seal. The insignia then segues into a darkness so deep that the screen is practically a mirror.)
Author's Note: Broken City is first and foremost a story of people and the things they do. The Battle Royale is a framing device; the real plot comes from the fifty teenagers whose stories drive what will hopefully make for a damn good read. I hope the reader will come to know and love some of these characters as much as I do, as the universe they live in certainly doesn't show them enough.
For the purpose of storytelling, I hold no illusions that Broken City is or will ever be a realistic depiction of Battle Royale in the real world. I only hope it is believable enough that the breaks from reality now and then do not throw you out of the story too much. The story contains a mixture of things and concepts that are taken from real life, other works of fiction, and the rest of that from somewhere in my mind that I'm still extracting all of this from. As the above warning shows, a lot of the themes touched upon in Broken City are common triggers. The reader proceeds at their own risk, though if requested by PM, a list of trigger warnings by chapter can be provided. If there's anything about Broken City, its characters, or its universe that the reader would like to discuss with me, I'd love to hear from you by review, PM, or otherwise.
To paraphrase a talented actor, one man's craziness is another man's reality. To me, Broken City and the place it comes out of is both my craziness and reality. I hope you enjoy.